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Former New Orleans Saints kicker Morten Andersen honored to represent team at 2014 NFL draft

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Former New Orleans Saints placekicker Morten Andersen was inducted into the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame during its annual Awards Banquet at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Saturday, August 10, 2013. (Photo by Peter G. Forest)
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Andersen, who kicked for the Saints from 1982-94, along with four other teams, is one of 32 former NFL players who will present a team's draft choice.

"They've kind of taken their Hall of Famers and people that have meant something in their opinion, everybody means something to the franchise, but have made a significant contribution," he said. "I've honored they think I'm one of those guys."

Andersen said the draft has changed significantly since he was picked in 1982. It's now expanded to three days, but has been cut to seven rounds, down from the 12 rounds the year he was drafted.

That particular day, Andersen recalled, was somewhat of a blur.

Andersen lived in a house with four friends at the time and watched the draft on TV that day.

"We had a big party that day and we had ESPN on," he said. "It was one of the first years ESPN was doing the draft and Chris Berman, a much younger Chris Berman, it was just kind of surreal to stand there all day and wait for your name to be called."

Berman was covering his third draft that year. This year, he'll be covering his 34th.

Andersen was the first kicker off the board, taken with the third pick of the fourth round. That would be a high pick for a kicker today, and even higher in the 12-round format in 1982.

The next kicker taken--four-time Pro Bowler Gary Anderson--didn't leave the board until the seventh round.

Andersen said he didn't even hear his name being called that day. Whether the draft had gone to commercial or he just missed the selection when he got his phone call, he'll never know.

"The phone rang and it was an assistant of Bum Phillips, so when I took the call, I never saw it on TV, I guess was on the phone with Bum," he said, then laughed. "At that point the keg was floating."

Former New Orleans Saints kicker Morten AndersenNOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Andersen retired in 2008, but he's a busy man these days. He doesn't follow the NFL like he used to, and said he didn't know much beyond the top 10 picks. '

"I'm not really involved with football now. I appreciated the 25 years but I've just decided to move on with something else, he said. "But I'm using the platform that the NFL allowed me to have, and I'm very grateful for that."

Andersen now runs an event planning business, runs occasional kicking camps and raises money for his foundation. Last week, he put on a golf tournament that was estimated to have raised about $150,000 for special operations soldiers.

But he's excited to travel back down memory lane for a few days in New York City.

"It'll be a fun couple of days," he said. "I'll get to see guys I played with and against, and it'll be fun to reconnect with the front office, although they're different from the guys that were there when I played."

Andersen says his favorite thing about the draft is the ability for a potential star to come from the late rounds, which is something he said the Saints have done a good job with during the past few years.

"The intriguing part is the dark horse," he said. "Everybody passes over the guy, he's sitting there, he's got the cameras on him, he's sweating, and then he has a great year because he's pissed off.

"There's always a guy in the mid rounds that everyone says 'what a steal.' I was the third pick in the fourth round and that turned out OK."